ASIC Heads to High Court for Clarity on Block Earner’s Licence-Free Crypto Yields

Australia’s financial watchdog isn’t backing down after losing a key fight against Block Earner, a popular crypto lender in the country.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) lodged a request for the High Court to reconsider its earlier ruling that Block Earner’s Access product does not qualify as a financial product. 

Related: Scammed to Scammer: Aussie Banker Used Insider Knowledge to Steal $500k

ASIC Willing to Fight Court’s Decision

The Full Federal Court ruled in favour of Block Earner on April 24 of this year, overturning the previous decision in March 2024 that its discontinued “Earner” program was an unlicensed financial service.

Now ASIC wants the High Court to intervene, not just to reverse the decision, but to lock in a broader definition of financial products under the Corporations Act. In short, ASIC argues the law was written to apply regardless of the underlying tech and says clarity is needed across the financial sector. 

As per the agency’s press release:

The definition of financial product was drafted in a broad and technology-neutral way, and ASIC believes it is in the public interest to clarify this. This clarification is important as it applies to all financial products and services whether they involve crypto-assets or not.

ASIC

The firm has already avoided penalties tied to the Earner product, and courts have consistently ruled against ASIC’s attempts to classify Access as a financial product. Despite that, the regulator is trying to reopen the case on the basis that the ruling undermines its broader enforcement mandate.

If the High Court agrees to hear the case, it would mean that the regulatory definition of financial products (long assumed to be flexible enough to absorb emerging crypto models) is once again under fresh legal scrutiny.

Related: Aussie Judge Rules Bitcoin Is Cash, Puts ATO’s Crypto Taxation on Notice